


i ain't no fortunate son (it ain't me)

by taakos



Series: money, power, glory [7]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Explicit Language, Fake AH Crew, Gun Violence, Male Friendship, Trans Female Character, gavin is just friends with everyone tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 23:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4368272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taakos/pseuds/taakos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin David Free is born in Thame, Oxfordshire, England. His parents don't love him. At least not as much as parents should. They push him off onto his grandparents and others who are not them. Even though they're indifferent and much too busy, he still loves his mother and father. (Gavin seems to love everything so unreachable.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	i ain't no fortunate son (it ain't me)

**Author's Note:**

> title from Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Gavin David Free is born in Thame, Oxfordshire, England. His parents don't love him. At least not as much as parents should. They push him off onto his grandparents and others who are not them. Even though they're indifferent and much too busy, he still loves his mother and father. (Gavin seems to love everything so unreachable.)

Gavin's brother, George, is born when Gavin is four. Six years later, everything seems to go downhill. Gavin is ten, George is six, and their parents die. To the Free boys, their parents (and an unborn baby) died in a fiery car crash. (To everyone else, a bomb was put on their car and triggered immediately after they begun driving. Body parts were scattered all over the road. The Frees were involved with some bad business ― everyone knows that.)

The Free boys live with their grandparents. Gavin turns eighteen and goes to university for film. He leaves uni at twenty-one, graduating a year early and a bit terrified. He has no idea what to do. At all. (He flops down on his grandparents’ couch and groans loudly. “Go make some films or somethin’.” George says, rolling his eyes at Gavin’s dramatics. Gavin throws a pillow at him and tells him to piss off. Bloody seventeen year olds.)

Despite being sassed, Gavin follows George’s (stupidly simple) advice. He makes films. He calls Dan Gruchy, his long-time friend. (Part-time Lance Corporal in the Royal Logistic Corps, part-time camera assistant. Part-time best friend, when he doesn't have other things to do.) They spend months together doing slo-mo shots for expensive movies with expensive cameras. The money is very good, apparently movie companies like good slow motion. (And they like funding Gavin's newer and better cameras.)

Gavin and Dan get hired again and again until Dan gets called back on duty. The night before his flight back to base, they are utterly wasted at Gavin's apartment in London. He wakes up diagonal on his shitty couch with a stiff back. There's a note on the fridge.  It's written in Dan's awful chicken-scratch handwriting.  ("Duty calls. — D")

Dan never told him when he'd get back, so Gavin just keeps working. He waits for texts or calls from Dan, yet they don't come. He is twenty-two when he gets a call from his grandmother. A horrible, awful, horrendous phone call. 

"Oh, 'ello, Gran!" Gavin answers.

"Hello, dear. I was just given some horrible news from Dan's mother." Gavin's grandmother says. His body stiffens and he feels himself begin to tremble. (Oh no.)

"What's happened, Gran?" His words are shaky and full of an emotion he cannot place. 

"Oh, Gavin, I am so sorry." Gran takes a somber tone and pauses. Gavin knows what's coming. He gulps before she continues. He presses his lips together into a thin line. "Daniel was killed in action. There was a sniper."

He can barely hear her thick words through the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. Before Gavin knows it, he drops his phone, and tears begin spilling from his eyes. He chokes on that emotion again, the one he can't quite identify. He can hear himself faintly gasping as he kneels on the ground, hands splayed out. His heart is a kick drum, constantly being hit by the mallet.

Small whimpers and groans come from him as he falls over onto his side, settling into the fetal position. He whispers "Dan, oh god, Dan" over and over again like a prayer to a god with horrible hearing. He lets his tears fall and pool around his cheek on the floor. Gavin doesn't know how long he laid there and cried, but it must've been a while because he fell asleep on the floor.

He wakes up with a stiff back and crusty, disgusting eyes. It's much hotter than it was yesterday, so Gavin wretches once or twice due to the temperature change. His shoulders slump as he walks to his bathroom. He showers and sits down, letting his head rest against the wall. His fingers are pruned when he gets out. He pulls on boxers, sweatpants, and a dumb t-shirt before going to brush his teeth. He brushes his teeth (for far too long) and gags three times when it gets too far into his throat. He rinses his mouth out for two minutes and he ends up staring at himself. He's a goddamn pathetic mess. Dan dies and Gavin falls apart.

His hair is far more messier than usual, just sticking up rather than the usual calculated tufts. He has large dark circles and his nose is red. He probably has a cold. He was in the shower for a while. He has a five o'clock shadow, but no motivation to shave it off. He walks slowly to his bed before throwing himself into it. He curls up and tries to make himself as small as possible. (He feels tears slipping down his cheeks, but ignores them just as he ignores everything around him.) The cycle repeats for a few days. The days turn into weeks, weeks into months.

He wakes up to his Gran calling his name. He flinches and squints at her. How the hell did she get in? George has a key, she probably snatched it off of him. (Gavin swears revenge on his younger brother.)

"Gavin, dear, wake up!" She's yelling and his ears are metaphorically bleeding due to the volume. 

"Wha?" Gavin mumbles. It sounds more like "wot" more than anything. 

"Where have you been, young man?" His Gran is pissed, his eyes are still bleary but he can see some rage in her face.

Speaking of piss,"Wait, can I take a piss before I answer that? Please?" His bladder hurts so much so he whines as he asks. Gran sighs and Gavin sprints, erratically avoiding mess on the floor, and shuts the bathroom door. He pisses and almost dies at the feeling of a non-full bladder. (And then he almost dies again when he looks himself in the mirror. He's a skeleton, practically. A skeleton with a dumb almost beard.)

He walks out of the bathroom and notices Gran's stance. She looks like she's about to beat the utter shite out of him with her bag. He cautiously moves forward and sits on the couch. She's staring at him.

"I, uh. I just." His voice breaks every time he tries to speak. "I miss Dan, so much, and I don't want to live in a world without him." He says in a flat voice, empty voice. Those words leave him breathless and feeling that emotion again. The one he still can't make out.

"Dear," Gran days as she sits down next to him, "I miss him, too, but God knows I'm not going to sleep in every day and mope. Life goes on, Gavin." Gavin's always loved his Gran for her bluntness, but right now it stings a bit. It stings his eyes and he can feel them moistening. He blinks the tears away and bites his bottom lip. He nods and stares out in front of him. His grandmother rubs his back and says soothing things. She promises that it'll be okay. That Dan would want him to live. She's right. (Gavin doesn't want her to be right, but she really is. Life goes on and so shall he.)

After an hour or so, Gran leaves his apartment. He takes a shower standing up this time and when he's dry, he properly brushes his hurricane-like hair. He gets it down so he doesn't look too scruffy and decides he needs a haircut. He grabs his computer and finds the one nearest one to him. An hour later and his hair is four inches shorter and the weight on his shoulders feels lighter, too. He drives to Tesco, gets groceries, and cooks for himself.

As he eats he says, "Today is a good day." He sips on red wine and goes through his emails. A horrible idea pops into his head as he reads through some news. He searches Dan's name on Google and tries to find the mission's report. After some definitely illegal searching, he finds it. He reads through the thing three times before he breaks. Gavin sobs desperately and horribly, gasping for breath.

He recovers and continues after grabbing a water bottle. There are pictures. A lot of them. Dan was shot through the chest with a 7.62 mm round that pierced his left lung before exiting. He bled out so much that the blood entered his pierced lung and drowned him. Gavin feels a strange wave of anger suddenly. Dan didn't deserve that kind of death. 

He continues reading and buries his anger for later. The sniper was found and killed while trying to escape. Dan's funeral was two months ago. His entire team attended. Gavin closes the file and sits back in his seat. He clenches and unclenches his hands.

Gavin's sadness has been replaced by anger. The type of numb anger that transfers into everything you touch. He needs to get rid of it. He spends days and days searching for somewhere. America. More specifically Los Santos, San Andreas. So, he renews his passport and visa.

Telling his grandparents and brother isn't that difficult. His Gran understands he needs change to keep going and so does his Grandad. George looks like he wants to say something, but doesn't. Gavin leaves his grandparents house in Thame, drives back to London, grabs his bags, and gets a cab to Heathrow. (Before he left, he promised to visit as often as he could.)

The first half of his flight sucks but Gavin manages not to vomit too often. (Twice.) He does wretch quite often though, he'd like to think it's something due to the change in altitude. Something like that.

Gavin focuses on his laptop most of the flight from London to New York as he looks at apartments to buy in Los Santos. His bank account is still decently full, somehow. He contacts the landlord during a layover in New York and makes the down payment. It's in the middle of the city, one of the tallest buildings. Pretty cheap rent, if Gavin's being honest. The landlord just said that he thought expensive apartments were dumb. (What a silly name. Geoff Ramsey. Pft.) 

Gavin passes out as soon as he gets in his seat after the layover is over. He sleeps through the entire thing, except for the one time he had to piss. They arrive at LSX and Gavin realizes First Class passengers can shower. (Thank God.) He almost sprints into the shower, but decides he needs his dignity. He can feel his muscles relax and it is glorious. He washes his hair out and dries himself off. He dresses and thanks the woman at the desk.

As he leaves, he can feel her gaze still on him. (It's uncomfortable.) He hails a taxi and goes to the apartment building. (He spent thirty-five fucking dollars on that taxi. Holy shit.) He mumbles swear words as he walks into the building's lobby. The lobby itself is bigger than his grandparents' house. Jesus Christ.

A man talks to the woman behind the desk, making strange hand gestures and noises. "Oh hey, you're Gavin Free, right?" The man turns around and Gavin sees his almost mustache. He almost starts giggling right then.

Instead he smiles and walks up to the man. "I take it you're Geoff?" Gavin asks, just as pleasantly as a jet-lagged, bag carrying person can. "Yep! That's me! Nice to meet you." Geoff extends a hand and Gavin does the same, they shake firmly.

Geoff turns around briefly and snatches the key that was thrown at him by the woman at the desk. He winks at her before gesturing at Gavin to follow. They walk into the elevator and Geoff jabs a button with his index finger, which is tattooed. Just like the rest of him.

The elevator stops smoothly and Geoff leads Gavin out into the hallway until they reach a single door. Gavin must be really tired because he forgets entirely that he bought a penthouse. Geoff flings open the door and ushers him in.  "Okay, so, here's your new apartment! Pretty great, right?" He doesn't even stop for an answer. "Anyway, I live on the top suite, so if you need anything, just knock on my door. Here's your keys and enjoy!" Geoff drops the keys in Gavin's freehand before sauntering out of the apartment and shutting the close with a thud.

Gavin walks around and checks out all the rooms before finding the bedroom and passing the fuck out. He sleeps for seventeen hours and awakes to a loud knock at his front door. His eyes adjust to the darkness of the night and blinks furiously. He pulls on a shirt as he walks to answer.

"Hey Gavin? You're not dead, are you? 'Cause that'd suck if you were." Geoff's curious, and maybe worried, voice flows from the hallway. It was followed by another loud knock, which was not actually a knock, but Geoff's boot kicking the door. 

Gavin flings open the door and narrows his eyes expectantly at his loud landlord. Geoff's face breaks out into a grin. "You are alive! That's great. Seriously man, I got worried." Geoff make a relived sound.

"I had jet-lag. Had to sleep it off." Gavin croaks, rubbing at his eyes.

"Right, so, you wanna drink with me? Drinking alone isn't all that fun and everyone else refuses to drink with me." Geoff asks excitedly, fluttering his eyelashes. Gavin cannot believe this. A grown man is fluttering his eyelashes at him. Fucking hell. Gavin sighs. He has nothing else to do anyway.

"Sure, why not," he shrugs and smiles. Geoff lets out a whoop and hooks an arm around Gavin's shoulders. "Excellent decision, buddy."

Gavin is unsure that he likes Geoff touching him, but he rolls with it as he locks and shuts his apartment door. Three hours later, Gavin stumbles out of Geoff's penthouse and almost trips. And then he does and hits the wall. He swears under his breath and crawls to the elevator. He punches the down button with the side of his fist. As the elevator arrives, he manages stand up and walk in. He leans on the wall as it goes down.  He reaches his door and puts the key in the lock. It opens and he stumbles before closing the door once again.

The keys are thrown onto his countertop as he passes by. Gavin reaches his bedroom, flinging the door open, and passing out for the third time this week. He has to stop doing this.

Gavin awakes nine hours later at 3 PM and finds something in his trousers’ right pocket. "Gav, if you need work, talk to me when you wake up. — Goeff". Gavin barks out a laugh. Somehow, Geoff not only managed to write a note to Gavin, but also spelled his name wrong. Why in God's name would Gavin want work from an alcoholic who can't spell his own damn name. Stupid idea. (And when the hell did Geoff shove that note into his pocket?)

Gavin meets up with Geoff later at 6 and they talk. Gavin is confused, so Geoff explains. "Listen Gavvers, business in Los Santos is almost never legitimate. This dump is full of crooks, cons, and kooks." He chuckles at his alliteration before continuing. "There are gangs on every street and corner. I'm sure you've see 'em." Gavin nods.

Geoff makes a big speech, but Gavin filters a great deal of it. Basically, Geoff wants him to do errands and small jobs for him. Not hard nor easy, but it pays well. Gavin taps his fingers against his glass of vodka as he thinks. He does need the money. (And an anger outlet.) He finishes the glass and winces as it burns. "Alright, I'll do it." Gavin says. He looks Geoff in the eyes and sees the older man's excitement.

Geoff's grin spreads across his entire face and he grabs Gavin into a bear hug. He releases Gavin and refills both of their drinks. Geoff raises his glass, "A toast to money?"

Gavin smiles and raises his glass, "To money." They both grin and tip their glasses.

Months later, Gavin, Geoff, and Jack (Geoff's business partner) sit in a car going eighty miles an hour with Gavin driving. They're being shot at and Geoff is shouting unintelligible things in the backseat while Gavin tries not to crash the fucking car. Jack sits the passenger shooting and giving him directions.  Gavin's death grip is broken by a shot ripping through his arm and he muffles a pained scream. He hears Jack call out that they're safe and he releases the wheel. He slumps forward and blackouts as muffled screams ring out. He jolts forward and blood runs down the side of his face.

He wakes up to a light slap to the face. He's met with Jack's usually kind eyes looking furious. "You idiot, you almost almost killed all of us!" Jack growls, glaring at him. She stood in front of him, her arms crossed.

Geoff sat languidly on the futon across from where Gavin laid. He felt a pulsing in his arm. He forgot about that. Oops. Gavin's throat is so dry, he can't speak. He just shrugs, hoping to get his point across. Jack's eye twitches and she looks like she's about to jump on him. She narrows her eyes one more time before seemingly losing all her anger.

She sighs and buries her face in her hands. Gavin sat up and made room for her so she could sit down. She sits and runs her hands through her hair as she speaks. "When you passed out, we had no idea where the bullet got you, and after the car crashed you got a concussion. I didn't mean to yell, I was just worried." Jack stands, "You probably need a drink, huh?" Gavin nods and Jack goes to fill a glass.

Geoff's looking at him strangely. He's not sure he knows the look or not. Gavin's uncomfortable. Once Jack gets back with the glass, Gavin asks when he's allowed to leave. He promised his family he'd visit. "I 'unno, probably a month at most," Geoff says, looking at Jack. She nods, "A month should give your arm enough time to heal properly."

After that, they all relax and watch The Lion King. Gavin falls asleep forty minutes in. ("Kids these days." Geoff says quietly, looking at Gavin. Jack snorts as she throws a blanket over Gavin.)

Gavin leaves twenty-nine days later for England. Technically, he's on vacation. He spends his time hanging out with George, who's not a kid anymore. He got a lot taller, as tall as Gavin, and his voice finally got deeper. Grandad died in his sleep last year, Gavin went to the funeral. Gran and George were devastated. (He comforted the both of them.) Gavin is two months into his vacation and getting ready for a football game when he gets a call from Geoff. George raises an eyebrow. 

"Go wait in the car, yeah?" Gavin asks, though he's not really asking. George nods and walks out the door. 

Gavin answers his still ringing phone. "Sup?"

"We're putting together a crew, Gav. Interested?" Geoff drawls out.

"Sure, why not. Got nothing better to do. I'll be there tomorrow. Could you get someone to clean my apartment? Thanks." Gavin hangs up and shoves his phone into pocket. He walks out the door and climbs into the car. (He was really getting tired of the monotony of normal life. Getting shot was exciting, painful, but exciting.)

After getting back from the game, Gavin packs and tells his Gran and brother he's leaving. He gets a kiss on the cheek from Gran and small hug from George before driving back to London and getting a cab to Heathrow.  The plane ride sucks, as per usual. He sleeps through most of it, thank Christ. When he arrives in Los Santos, he grabs a taxi, and gets some food in a shady part of town.

He calls his mechanic to bring a motorcycle and park it in a nearby alley. He's walking to his bike as he sees someone nearly get shot in the base of their spine, so he pulls out his pistol and shoots the shooter. A shot whizzes by Gavin's ear.  His ears ring as he gets tackled by someone and he hears another shot go off.The firefight is over. Whoever tackled him saved his life and won. Gavin groans and blinks. "Holy fuck."

He stands and sees the person looking at him. They're wearing a mask. "How are you not dead?" They ask. It's a man, probably.

"Got a sturdy head." Gavin knocks his knuckles against his skull. "Hey, you saved my life! You should join my boss-friend's crew! You'd kick major arse!"

The masked man tilts his head quizzically and then says, "Okay."

Gavin jumps up and down excitedly before calming and whipping out his phone. "Okay, let's exchange numbers and I'll text you once my boss-friend wants to meet you?" 

The masked man shrugs as he takes his phone out of his pocket and hands it to Gavin. He takes Gavin's phone out of his hand. "Oh shit, I'm Gavin, by the way." Gavin shakes his head at himself because he forgot to tell the masked man his name. So forgetful.

"They call me The Mad King, but you can call me Ryan if you want." Ryan (fits him) says as he hands Gavin's cell back and takes his own. They shake hands briefly before Gavin's pocket lights up.

"Ah shit, looks like I gotta go, I'll text you!" Gavin shouts as he sprints away to the alley his mechanic dropped the motorcycle off in. Gavin can't wait to tell Geoff he knows The Mad King. (For some reason, Ryan is a fitting name.) He motors down the roads, swerving in and out of traffic before arriving in his garage. He takes the elevator to Geoff's apartment and kicks the door a couple times so he can be let in.

"IT'S OPEN. STOP KICKING MY DAMN DOOR." Geoff yells angrily.

"Hey, Geoffers! Guess who I know!" Gavin exclaims happily, plopping down next to Geoff. Jack raises her left eyebrow, questioning.

Geoff sighs dramatically. "Who do you know, Gavin?" 

"The Mad King! And, I told him to he could join the crew! Whenever you're ready to meet him, I'll text him!" Gavin says excitedly, raising his eyebrows, waiting for a reply filled with gratefulness.

Geoff blows up, "You what? Gavin, you can’t just invite people to the crew for fuck’s sake! Honestly, you are a tornado of dumb, sometimes, kid. HE’S A FUCKING PSYCHOPATH, TOO. I SWEAR TO GOD GAVIN, YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT." Geoff keeps going for like fifteen minutes and looks like he’s going to strange Gavin, and while Gavin tries not to laugh. Not exactly the reaction he wanted, still pretty satisfying though.(Jack keeps making eye contact with him, urging him not to laugh because Geoff might actually die or kill him.)

Geoff stops, breathing heavily, and looks at Gavin. He shrugs, smirking. Geoff's eye twitches. He makes an aggravated noise that might've been a swear word before tackling Gavin and tickling him. Gavin squawks and squeals as he's tickled. Jack takes some pictures. (She gets them framed later with the caption "Father & Son Bonding Times". Gavin chuckles at them and Geoff shares a secret glance with Jack, silently thanking her. She winks.)

After being tickled, Geoff tells Gavin to text The Mad King, so he does. Geoff and Jack call another crew candidate as he waits for a response. They get a yes just as Gavin's phone lights up with a text. He responds with the apartment building's location and asks what time Ryan could be there. "Five minutes." is the response he gets.

Ryan meeting Geoff and Jack actually goes pretty well. Ryan was very polite and straight to the point, he also seems to like Geoff. He even commented on his mustache at one point. ("God, don't compliment him, his ego is already the size of Texas." Jack groans. Ryan chuckles.) Ryan has "business" until Sunday or so, but after that he'll be able to move in or whatever.  After Ryan leaves, Gavin claps gleefully.

Geoff punches his shoulder, "If you invite more people without telling me, you will lose your hands." Gavin pouts at Geoff while rubbing his injured shoulder and Jack smiles amusingly. ("Would you really cut off my hands?" "In a heartbeat, buddy.")

Ray (Geoff's friend) arrives the next day and he kicks their asses at Call of Duty. Geoff starts whining and everything. ("This is such bullshit. I HATE THIS GAME." Geoff exclaims, still as melodramatic as ever.)

Michael (Ray's friend) gets in on Friday and unpacks. (Gavin almost falls down the stairs nine times. Michael cackles every time it happens. Jack groans and tells him to stop trying to help, because he's going to die. Geoff pipes up from the bottom of the stairs, "You say that like it's a bad thing." Everyone laughs and Gavin makes an offended noise.)

On Sunday, Ryan gets in during the late afternoon as Jack and Geoff make dinner. He sips on a Diet Coke, Ray has water, and everyone else drinks alcohol of some sort. As Gavin sips on his wine, he feels that this is family. He barely knows three of them and yet, this feels like home than England ever had.

(He feels like Dan would be proud.) A toast is shared that night, before their first heist, "Let's hope we don't fuck this up!"

As their glasses clink and they drink, Gavin feels a pit in his stomach. Something will go wrong, he knows it. (He feels that feeling again, the one he can't decipher. He thinks it's love.) The wine slides down his throat and he buries the feelings for later.

(Later is far too soon for Gavin's liking.)

**Author's Note:**

> yo this is really long and took me five hours to write and like half an hour to edit it. i never want to read this with my own eyes ever again. i'm serious. never. this is (so far) the longest in the series and i don't even know how to write gavin. i'm serious, no clue. he might be super ooc. i unno, i don't write him often enough. uh, not sure how the last two parts of this will go, by the way. might be just one work split into two chapters, or might be two different works. if any of y'all have an opinion on that, hit me up. thanks for all the kudos and comments, they keep me writing. see you at the next one <3


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